The capital requirements and strategic maneuvering defining the artificial intelligence frontier are starkly evident in recent developments, from OpenAI’s finalized restructuring to Amazon’s contrasting AI investment strategy. CNBC’s Morgan Brennan recently spoke with CNBC Business News reporter MacKenzie Sigalos, delving into the implications of these pivotal shifts for the broader tech ecosystem and workforce. Their […]
In computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack; UK: /dɒs/ doss US: /dɑːs/ daas[1]) is a cyberattack in which the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host connected to a network. -The Wikipedia definition of denial-of-service attack.
This is a very basic concept. Someone makes use of their own resources to disrupt the functioning of other machines on a network.
DoS attacks have been an issue for as long as the internet existed. One of the commonly argued “first Distributed Denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks” was against the Internet Service Provider (ISP) Panix in the mid-90s. There were of course many prior technical examples on older internet services, but this was one of, if not the, first major examples of such an attack on the modern World Wide Web.
This attack had numerous computers start to initiate a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection with the ISPs servers, but never finishing the handshake protocol that finalized the connection. This consumes the server’s resources for managing network connections and prevents honest users from accessing the internet through the ISP’s servers.
Ever since this “initial” DDoS attack, they have been as common on the internet as storms are in nature, a regular occurrence that massive pieces of internet infrastructure have been built to defend against.
The Blockchain
The blockchain is one of the core components of Bitcoin, and a required dependency for Bitcoin’s functionality as a distributed ledger. I am sure many people in this space would call so-called “spam” transactions a DoS attack on the Bitcoin blockchain. In order to call it that, you would have to define the “service” that the blockchain is offering as a system, and explain how spam transactions are denying that service to others in a way not intended by the design of the system.
I’d wager a bet that most people who believe spam is a DoS attack would say something like “the service the blockchain offers is processing financial transactions, and spam takes space away from people trying to do that.” The problem is, that is not specifically the service the blockchain offers.
The service it actually offers is the confirmation of any consensus valid transaction through a real-time auction that periodically settles whenever a miner finds a block. If your transaction is consensus valid, and you have bid a high enough fee for a miner to include your transaction in a block, you are using the service the blockchain provides exactly as designed.
This was a conscious design decision made over years during the “Block Size Wars” and finalized in the activation of Segregated Witness and the rejection of the Segwit2x blocksize increase through a hard fork pushed by major companies at the time. The blockchain would function by prioritizing the highest bidding fee transactions, and users would be free to compete in that auction. This is how blockspace would be allocated, with a global restriction to protect verifiability and a free market pricing mechanism.
Nothing about a transaction some arbitrarily define as “spam” winning in this open auction is a DoS of the blockchain. It is a user making use of that resource in the way they are supposed to, participating in the auction with everyone else.
The Relay Network
Many, if not most, Bitcoin nodes offer transaction relay as a service to the rest of the network. If you broadcast your transactions to your peers on the network, they will forward them on to their peers, and so on. Because the peering logic deciding which nodes to peer with maintains wide connectivity, this service allows transactions to propagate across the network very quickly, and specifically allows them to propagate to all mining nodes.
Another service is block relay, propagating valid blocks as they are found in the same manner. This has been highly optimized over the years, to the point where most of the time an entire block is never actually relayed, just a shorthand “sketch” of the blockheader and the transactions included in it so you can reconstruct them from your own mempool. In other words, optimizations in block relay depend on a transaction relay functioning properly and propagating all valid and likely to be mined transactions.
When nodes do not have transactions in a block already in their mempool, they must request them from neighboring nodes, taking more time to validate the block in the process. They also explicitly forward those transactions along with the block sketch to other peers in case they are missing them, wasting bandwidth. The more nodes filtering transactions they classify as spam, the longer it takes blocks including those filtered transactions to propagate across the network.
Transaction filtering actively seeks to disrupt both of these services, in the case of transaction relay failing miserably to prevent them from propagating to miners, and in the case of block propagation having a marginal but noticeable performance degradation the more nodes on the network are filtering transactions.
These node policies have the explicit purpose of degrading the network service of propagating transactions to miners and the rest of the network, and view the degradation of block propagation as a penalty to miners who choose to include valid transactions they are filtering. They seek to create a degradation of service as a goal, and view the degradation of another service resulting from that attempt as a positive.
This actually is a DoS attack, in that it actually is degrading a network service contrary to the design of the system.
Where From Here?
The entire saga of Knotz vs. Core, or “Spammers” vs. “Filterers”, has been nothing more than a miserably ineffective and failed DoS attack on the Bitcoin network. Filters do absolutely nothing to prevent filtered transactions from being included in blocks. The goal of disrupting transaction propagation to miners has had no success whatsoever, and the degradation of block relay has been marginal enough to not be a disincentive to miners.
I see this as a huge demonstration of Bitcoin’s robustness and resilience against attempted censorship and disruption on the level of the Bitcoin Network itself.
So now what?
A BIP by an anonymous author has been put forward to enact a temporary softfork that would expire after roughly a year making numerous ways to include “spam” in Bitcoin transactions consensus invalid through that time period. After realizing the DoS attack on the peer-to-peer network has been a total failure, filter supporters have moved to consensus changes, as many of them were told would be necessary over two years ago.
Will this actually solve the problem? No, it won’t. It will simply force people who wish to submit “spam” to this forked network, if they actually follow through on implementing it, to use fake ScriptPubKeys to encode their data in unspendable outputs that will bloat the UTXO set.
So even if this fork was met with resounding support, activated successfully, and did not result in a chainsplit, it would still not achieve the stated goal and leave “spammers” no option but to “spam” in the most damaging way to the network possible.
Chinese researchers at Peking University achieve a world-first visualization of photoresist behavior using cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET).
The discovery could help China reduce reliance on foreign photoresist materials and improve chip yields at advanced nodes.
The breakthrough deepens the ongoing U.S.-China tech rivalry, potentially influencing global chip prices and supply for everyday electronics.
Source: Peking University
China’s Breakthrough in Lithography Materials
China has achieved a significant milestone in semiconductor technology that could alter the global landscape in chip manufacturing. A team led by Professor Hailin Peng from Peking University, working with domestic collaborators, has developed a method to reduce defects in chip lithography dramatically. Using cryo-electron tomography, a technique more commonly seen in biology, the researchers visualized how light-sensitive photoresist materials behave at the molecular level during chip production.
For the first time, scientists were able to see how photoresist polymers interact in liquid film and at gas–liquid interfaces, uncovering the hidden causes of defects that limit chip yields. The team’s new process reportedly eliminated up to 99% of these defects under industrial conditions, marking a turning point for China’s semiconductor ambitions.
Why This Matters
Photoresist materials are essential for defining nanoscale circuits on silicon wafers. Until now, China has depended heavily on imports, with over 90% of its photoresist supply coming from Japan. By developing its own high-performance photoresist and imaging technology, China is moving closer to self-reliance in one of the most critical areas of chipmaking.
The discovery could improve manufacturing yields in processes like lithography, etching, and cleaning, vital steps for producing chips at 7nm and smaller scales. It also strengthens China’s position in the global semiconductor supply chain, which has long been dominated by companies in the U.S., Japan, and South Korea.
Implications for the United States
This development adds fresh urgency to U.S. efforts to maintain technological leadership. While American institutions such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are advancing photoresist metrology and next-generation EUV lithography, China’s rapid progress suggests a narrowing gap.
The U.S. has invested heavily under the CHIPS and Science Act to bolster domestic semiconductor R&D, including materials and lithography systems. However, China’s success in solving long-standing material science problems shows it is no longer just catching up but setting new benchmarks in applied semiconductor research.
Whats Next for China and US
China’s progress in lithography materials signals more than scientific advancement; it’s a strategic move toward technological independence. By tackling one of the toughest bottlenecks in chip production, China is positioning itself as a formidable competitor in the race for semiconductor supremacy.
For the U.S., the challenge now is to accelerate innovation not just in chip design and fabrication, but in the underlying materials science that powers the future of computing.
The transformative power of artificial intelligence, while heralding unprecedented innovation, is simultaneously catalyzing a profound restructuring of the tech workforce, a reality starkly illustrated by Amazon’s recent corporate layoffs. As CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos reported on “Money Movers,” Amazon is embarking on a multi-year efficiency drive, predominantly focused on “hollowing out layers of middle management.” This […]
Nvidia’s DGX Spark, the company’s new $4,000 developer box powered by the Grace Blackwell GB10 superchip, is under fire after questions were raised about real-world performance and power draw.
Leica photographers are finally getting support for tethering in Lightroom Classic. With version 15.0, the SL3 and Q3 camera systems are natively supported, meaning that no additional plugins are necessary for tethering to work.
MecTuring has introduced a new robotic mop called the MecTuring Mop X2 that promises easier cleaning with powerful and intelligent functionality. It is designed to handle everyday mess and stronger stains while keeping pricing within reach. Continue reading ahead to learn all the key features of the Mop X2.
MecTuring Mop X2 key features
MecTuring Mop X2
The Mop X2 focuses on cleaning challenges commonly found in Indian households, especially hard-to-remove marks on tiled or marble floors. It features two rotating mop pads that apply a strong scrubbing force to remove stubborn spots that regular wiping often leaves behind.
Along with this, 15,000 Pa suction clears dust and small debris in one go, reducing the need for separate sweeping. Navigation is handled by NavPro4 LiDAR, which helps the robot accurately map multiple floors, adapt to furniture placement and avoid falls or collisions.
Carpet detection prevents wet mopping on fabric surfaces. With a 5200mAh battery, the device can operate for up to 300 minutes, covering approximately 4,000 sq ft before returning to the dock.
MecTuring Mop X2 price, availability
The MecTuring Mop X2 is priced at Rs 34,999 (~$400) as an introductory offer for the Indian market. It is now open for pre-orders exclusively through the company’s official website, with deliveries set to begin on Nov. 15.
Buyers will get a standard 1+1-year warranty, along with a 10-year waterproof suction motor warranty, which adds value for long-term usage and reliability.
For more daily updates, please visit our News Section.
Wingtech, the Chinese parent company of Dutch chipmaker Nexperia, has warned investors of a potential cash flow squeeze if it fails to regain operational control of its European subsidiary.
On November 27, 2024, Unusual Machines announced that Donald Trump Jr. had joined its advisory board—bringing his name and 331,580 shares valued at roughly $4 million in the company. Less than a year later, the once-obscure Florida-based drone company has […]
The era of explicit, instruction-based prompt engineering is rapidly drawing to a close, giving way to a more intuitive, almost relational paradigm of interacting with advanced artificial intelligence. This profound shift, a central theme in Matthew Berman’s recent Forward Future Live session, posits that humanity’s final guide to prompt engineering will be less about logical […]
AMD is investing over $280 million to establish two new R&D centers in Taiwan dedicated to silicon photonics and heterogeneous integration to further boost its data center roadmap.
Ring's founder, Jamie Siminoff, has returned to the company, determined to "Make neighborhoods safer." To that end, Siminoff thinks that artificial intelligence could help Ring not only achieve its original mission but also eliminate most crime.
Japan's Automobile Manufacturers Association warned that Nexperia's disrupted chip supply could halt vehicle production across Japan, as Volkswagen is reportedly preparing to suspend assembly of Golf and Tiguan models as early as next week.
A European think tank suggests retaliatory trade measures against China, and the trigger appears to be Beijing’s threat to restrict exports of gallium and germanium, two raw materials used in everything from EVs to satellites.
Ring founder and Amazon exec Jamie Siminoff’s book, Ding Dong: How Ring Went From Shark Tank Reject to Everyone’s Front Door, is due out Nov. 10. (Courtesy Photo)
Jamie Siminoff has lived the American Dream in many ways — recovering from an unsuccessful appearance on Shark Tank to ultimately sell smart doorbell company Ring to Amazon for a reported $1 billion in 2018.
“I never set out to write a book, but after a decade of chaos, failure, wins, and everything in between, I realized this is a story worth telling,” Siminoff said in the announcement, describing Ding Dong as the “raw, true story” of building Ring, including nearly running out of money multiple times.
He added, “My hope is that it gives anyone out there chasing something big a little more fuel to keep going. Because sometimes being ‘too dumb to fail’ is exactly what gets you through.”
Siminoff rejoined the Seattle tech giant earlier this year after stepping away in 2023. He’s now vice president of product, overseeing the company’s home security camera business and related devices including Ring, Blink, Amazon Key, and Amazon Sidewalk.
Special Teams’ founder and CEO, Clara Sekowski, discusses a hardware mockup build with teammates in the loading bay of their new 7,400-square-foot facility in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood. (Special Teams Photo)
Nine years ago, Clara Sekowski was part of the engineering team at Planetary Resources, a Seattle-area startup that planned to mine precious metals on asteroids. Six years ago, she joined other veterans from Planetary Resources at First Mode, another trailblazing startup that focused on clean energy for industrial applications. Now she’s the CEO of Special Teams, a consulting firm founded with fellow engineers from First Mode.
“Third time’s the charm, right?” she says.
Both of those earlier startups attracted high-profile backers for their ambitious plans, only to face setbacks as reality set in. Special Teams is starting smaller, but it’s gaining traction: The bootstrapped venture and its team of just over 10 engineers recently moved into a 7,400-square-foot office and workshop facility in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood — and it’s already exceeding its revenue target.
“In our first year, we’re almost at $2 million, which is above and beyond a goal we had set for Year One,” she told GeekWire.
The Special Teams roster includes engineers with experience in aerospace, software development, and even the gaming industry.
“We use systems engineering to bridge the gap between innovation on paper and operational deployment,” Sekowski said. “We design and build prototypes and custom simulations to prove that concepts can work in real-world conditions.”
Special Teams’ to-do list includes helping BHP lay the groundwork for deep-mining automation; working on a confidential nuclear project; and advising Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, a high-performance car company, on its plan to create a hydrogen-powered pickup truck.
“I have worked for decades with top engineering and design companies around the world … on highly complex and challenging projects,” Jesse Glickenhaus, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus’ CEO, said in an emailed statement. “SpecTeams is by far the most incredible team I have worked with when doing something new and technologically challenging needs to be paired with significant safety and environmental concerns.”
Some of the engineers who left Planetary Resources started up First Mode. Initially, the engineering consulting firm played a supporting role in a variety of space projects, including NASA’s Artemis moon program and the Perseverance rover mission on Mars.
As time went on, First Mode tightened its focus to concentrate on clean-tech power systems. It established a proving ground for those systems at a former coal mine in Centralia, Wash. Then, in 2023, the Anglo American mining conglomerate took a majority interest in First Mode and accelerated its drive to develop hydrogen-fueled and hybrid powertrains for heavy trucks.
In February 2024, First Mode CEO Julian Soles wielded a giant scissors at a factory ribbon-cutting ceremony with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to the right and Albert Gore, executive director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association, to the left. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)
Molly Puga, First Mode’s general manager, said the company is continuing to pursue its decarbonization mission as part of the Cummins Power Systems global network.
“Since the acquisition of First Mode, Cummins has been hard at work bringing hybrid solutions for mining to reality,” Puga said in an emailed statement. “We have announced a partnership with Komatsu to scale our hybrid solution, received a grant from TransAlta to support operations at our proving grounds in Centralia, and have shipped product to South America to be commissioned at a mine in the next several months. First Mode continues to employ about 70 employees globally, with the majority of them based in Seattle.”
Special Teams has also been hard at work at its new SoDo facility.
“We are excited to be in the space that we have. It’s a great mix of space where we can build hardware and have a forklift and move around and make noise, and office space where we can get the rest of our work done,” Sekowski said. “SoDo is a great spot for that, because this is really the only area where you can have hybrid spaces. We are going to be here until our hardware doesn’t fit in the building anymore.”
Startups sparked, lessons learned
Special Teams isn’t the only startup founded by First Mode alumni: Last year, former CEO Chris Voorhees and former chief operating officer Rhae Adams established a think tank called Sol Zero Group to support new engineering ventures — including Special Teams.
Civic Forge, which advises businesses on government affairs and public policy strategies, is another venture in Sol Zero’s family of companies. It was founded last year by Conor Duggan, First Mode’s former director of government affairs; and Adam Day, who previously served as First Mode’s senior government affairs manager.
This year, Duggan took on a new role at a clean-tech startup called Vaulted Deep, and Day took charge as Civic Forge’s CEO.
“Civic Forge works alongside Special Teams when a challenge has both policy and technical dimensions,” Day told GeekWire via email. “Together, we pair engineering with policy, which helps clients de-risk designs, win public support and hit milestones faster. Our combined goal is simple: Help organizations move faster across dimensions so they can focus on building.”
Special Teams CEO Clara Sekowski runs a workshop focused on modeling the carbon footprint of a mining customer. (Special Teams Photo)
Sekowski said that she gets “so much joy” from seeing former colleagues do well, at First Mode and at new ventures. “I think that’s part of the legacy,” she said. “It’s not just Special Teams, but it’s all of us, taking what we learned there and putting it into the next things that we do.”
She’s grateful for the experience she gained at First Mode. “Some of the things I learned at First Mode are important to us here as well,” she said. “Doing work in a broad domain, not just in space, but across energy and other industries, helps us do better work. And so that’s something that we’ll continue.”
Sekowski is even grateful for the setbacks she and her teammates encountered along the way. “I learned so much through the process of being a part of Planetary Resources, and then what was a strong correction to some of the funding issues there with First Mode, and now getting to put some of those lessons together to build this team,” she said. “You don’t get a lot of chances to grow in that way. … We’ve got the battle scars. We know where we want to go, what we don’t want to do, and how to get there.”
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